She merely sat and lsitened as the snide comments finally came to a close and what seemed like a wave of tiredness swept over the tent. Soon after, the elf stood up and nodded his goodbyes to them both. Whether Talos would take it as mutually as he intended, was another question. But Sandy merely nodded in returned and smiled. Armeno’s words brought her back to reality slightly. Even though that battle was over, they were still in the middle of the war, and there was a lot of things riding on them all to simply stay alive in order for their plan to work.

Seconds after the elf left the tent, she too, stood up and headed out to leave the avian and prince alone together. Hopefully they would come out without rolling around in the dirt again. But who knew.She nodded in the direction of the only other human there, before also exiting the meeting. Whatever they discussed between them now obviously didn’t concern anyone else, so there was no need for her to worry about it.

As much as he really didn't like the elf, there was a small feeling of disappointment that he seemed to have nothing to add. Once the elf and rider had gone however he suddenly felt incredibly awkward just sitting there with Atleon and and almost got up to leave, but the small gesture from the prince kept him attached tightly to his seat. He watched Atleon pull out the chest in silence, his gaze flicking over all of the things that were revealed upon opening the box and listened, taking the scroll handed to him like it was a sheaf of thin glass ready to break at any second. His eyebrow shot up at the mention of mages and unrolled the scroll carefully as Atleon outlined the mission he was about to undertake, looking over the map carefully, taking mental notes on the locations of the mages. Another surprise was in store for him when the map of the tunnels and the magic detecting gadget were handed over. "This would been useful a couple'a weeks ago…" He muttered, unrolling a small section of the tunnel map and scanning it quickly before letting it re-roll itself. "These mages are going to be a part of the war effort, ain't they?" It wasn't a question that needed answering. Both of them had been there on the front lines, it was hardly a surprise that they would so readily turn to retired professors for help now that push had come to shove.

"Well, if I go t'all these places," he held up the map with the locations of the mages in question, "It's gonna take longer en'a couple'a weeks. Once I got 'em, what do I do with 'em? DO you want me t'send 'em to the Capital, or to Harglen, or keep 'em with me fer the ride? 'An how important is it to go 'an spy on those Surahnians if I'm collectin' mages?" He had thought that this would be a rather straight forward mission. Go to Racksom, spy on them a bit, and return. The quest to go find the mages was a completely unexpected turn in the conversation.

“Intense spying is not all that necessary as long as we can keep a general tab on them to detect their movements. We need to know where they are going most importantly. We don’t need every single detail of their plan yet. Locations are most important so we can prepare and gather forces. If you can get some information on when they are considering to strike next and where, that should already be more than sufficient for now.” Atleon said, mulling things over as he was speaking.

Organisation, organisation – that was the key word for the time being, everything else could be handled later. Even if the Surahnians were going to take over another town in the meantime, he did not care as much if only the could repel them later on, and for that they required manpower and information more than anything else. Facing their opponents now would be of no help and only result in another massacre.

“As for the mages, keep a few with yourself for protection, all others, split up between Harglen and Didienne. From there, we are going to handle further instructions for them. Apart from the dragons, they are probably going to be our best chance, and we really need them by our side when we’re going to face the Surahnians sooner or later.” He hoped this would be later rather than sooner because they were in no way ready for any confrontation, disorganised and scattered as they were.

“Thank you, Talos, for agreeing to go on this mission. I know it’ll take a couple of weeks, but do not take too long either,” Atleon continued. “If needs be, split up your group. Send a mage with each and tell them where to go. The maps and gadgets do not leave your hands as they will have to be returned to this case.”“Take whoever you want, I trust you know who to pick for this sort of mission. Be swift, and stay out of trouble.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

Weighing Atleon's words, Talos slipped the magic trap detector into his pocket and made sure the map roll was tight. "Alrigh'. If I can get my hands on the mage in Racksom, I'll send 'em back with word of our progress if there's anythin' t'be had. If we run int'uh trouble, I'll see what I can do 'bout informin' you…" He certainly hoped that there wouldn't be any trouble, but he wasn't exactly stealth trained and was taking along a hoard of nearly useless farmers to boot. Not the best recipe if you wanted to avoid disaster, but hopefully a week of riding across the plains to get back to Racksom in the first place would be enough to keep them from spontaneously impaling themselves. He was a little leery about the thought of traveling around with a bunch of mages, especially not knowing exactly what he could do and what the hexes he occasionally unleashed were actually capable of.

But after making such a fuss about getting a move on, he wasn't about to argue the point either. Without anything more to really say, Talos started for the door but remembered his manners briefly and gave Atleon an awkward half-bow. "Thanks. See you on the other side, I s'ppose." He saluted quickly and exited, and blankly stared at Aremeno standing there like a tree as he passed by to go find Lena and the others that he'd had in mind for this little mission to Racksom. "Your turn." He mumbled over his shoulder then took a brief jump and was in the air, making his way above the campsite.

It took so long for Atleon and Talos to finish their business that Armeno found his thoughts drifting to other matters. It wasn’t until Talos was already lifting the flap of the tent aside that his words of farewell to Atleon filtered through the elf’s mind and he realised that he should have been making himself look busy. Damn, what an idiot he was! All he could do was stare dumbly back at Talos and give him an awkward nod. Thankfully, the avian just seemed to think he was waiting to speak to Atleon on some other matter- which, he supposed, he was.

He had other things to be getting on with, anyway, and he was sure the prince did too, so without further ado he ducked back inside the tent and gave only a short bow this time. “So, Prince Atleon, I’m sure you know what I was referring to. Do you need me to do any communication with your contact in Racksom? I am sure I could make contact with them and it would be no problem to conceal it. Anything you needed delivered to them, picking up, messages carried… It would be no problem. I would be delayed a day, perhaps two. Nothing suspicious. What do you think?” He didn’t really have any idea who the woman was, nor her position amongst the SR- really, he doubted that even Atleon knew the latter- but they needed all the help they could get in this war, and surely having somebody inside the enemy was an advantage they should use. The woman had said herself that she could give them intelligence. True, it could be a trap, but the prince seemed to know her well- and if somebody had to set off a trap then Armeno was perhaps the best. He had as good a chance of surviving it as anyone else in the DDC and if he didn’t then the only effect would be the loss of him as a trainer and a fighter, unlike if Talos, Atleon or Sandy were to go down. That would do terrible things for morale, besides everything else.

Atleon acknowledge Talos’ bow with a nod and stared after the avian as he exited the tent, hoping that all would go well. Not just for the sake of the mission itself but for the man as well, not to mention the fact that Atleon would then have to deal with a raging Lena if something went wrong on this mission.

Pushing those thoughts aside, the prince focused on Armeno. Briefly returning the elf’s bow with a nod of his own, he immediately immersed himself in the conversation as Armeno got straight to the point.

“In all honesty, I don’t know how high up she managed to worm herself but it can’t just be a mere soldier, considering her actions during the battle. Though I may be mistaken. What I do know however is that you will have no trouble meeting up. Bring Shetan back to Racksom, she will need her horse. He is a quick runner, so I don’t think Shetan will have trouble keeping up with Velox. Once he reappears in Racksom, Siofra will know that someone from our camp will be there. She will come find you.” Atleon mulled things over for a bit, before continuing: “For now, all I need from her is some intelligence, as detailed as she can give us without compromising herself or giving away the fact that there is a spy amongst them.”

Sighing, the prince wondered what he should tell Siofra that she did not already know. The battles at Quinsilla and Racksom had been rather conclusive when it came to the fate of the inhabitants of Dragons’ Cove. “Tell her that we’re gathering mages for our army and that she should send a message as soon as she hears anything about the rebels putting up specific defenses to that respect, as magic will be the most important aspect of our fighting strategy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

Well, apparently there was no need for subtlety then. Armeno just hoped none of the Surahnian spies were nearby to hear this Siofra’s name, or it would undoubtedly mean bad things for her. “I’ll be travelling quickly, but Velox won’t be able to go flat out all the way. It should be no problem, especially if Shetan has no rider for the trip. I will do as you say… Is there anything else? Any information you want me to give her, a letter or document… A signal, anything?” If the Surahnians went on the move again, Siofra with them, it could only get more difficult for them to make contact with her. In a city, there were far too many people for his presence to go noticed unless he drew attention to himself. In a Surahnian war camp, on the other hand, he’d stick out like a sore thumb. Of course, it would be easy enough for her to send a messenger, as long as she could find one loyal to her. Most any local of Racksom would support the DDC over the SR, he imagined, so it wouldn’t be too difficult. If there had to be one way communication only then it was undoubtedly better that Siofra talked to them rather than the other way around.

Atleon forced himself not to sigh again as the weariness was beginning to creep through his body and trying to take complete hold of him. This was only the start of it all and he could not give in now. Of course, he would get used to feeling like this after a while but that thought wasn’t helping now either.

“You don’t have to make him go flat all the way anyways. You do have a bit of time and I don’t want you to risk your own or your horse’s life. We will still have need of you.” He half attempted to turn this into a joke but it failed miserably.“There isn’t anything I can give you for her. Siofra will have to find her own way to send messages and to find messengers if need be. Maybe she should try and get herself a small dragon she can use as a messenger, though where she is going to find one around Racksom…” Atleon trailed off, not needing to elaborate that the Racksom area had probably been deserted for the most part in the meantime.

“If there were anything in the chest that could prove useful, I’d give it to you to take along but most things I have not yet examined, and those I have will not be any help for you. In case you need a quick getaway, you still remember the underground tunnels, but I would suggest staying out of them and rather staying hidden on the outskirts of the city as much as possible until she comes for you. That is the best I can give you. If you don’t have any more questions, then I wish you good luck in your endeavours. May the winds speed your travels so that you will be amidst as again soon – hopefully with good news.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

Armeno couldn’t for the life of him think of anything else to ask; Atleon, thank god, was a lot more helpful than commanders he’d had in the past. He was surprisingly reasonable and humane, as well- not everybody would spare a thought for the welfare of a horse. Perhaps his humour had fallen a little flat, but then these were hardly lighthearted times for the DDC. If the pale, austere bastards made jokes at all- probably about hoe feeble their opponents were- then he was sure there was plenty of laughter in the Surahnian command rooms. Here, he mustered a somewhat half-hearted smile as he replied.“Thank you. I’ll do my best to bring us both back alive, I assure you. If I encounter any sorcerers, perhaps a scroll dragon… but I’ll have to see. I won’t be leaving just yet but I expect we’ll both be busy and it’s unlikely we’ll have a chance to talk about this again, so… I will do my best to follow your advice, and I appreciate your good wishes. I wish you all the best, Prince.” With this, he gave a final bow before turning to walk out smartly, leading Velox to a clear space before mounting him and weaving away through the camp.

Atleon was glad that the talk with Armeno had gone smoothly, and that most of the important official business was now taken care of. Of course, there were still many more things that needed to be done but this had been the most important. They had needed to figure out these things so they could move on from there and now that it was done, the prince felt somewhat like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

However, there was one more important thing Atleon needed to take care, though he was not quite sure how official it was going to be.Ericius.Somehow the dragon had appeared out of nowhere, sent to him and the prince really did not quite understand what the story behind it all was. He really wanted to know though, despite the fact that it probably wasn’t going to be something he would like very much. He might be wrong of course, but he had the bad feeling that he wouldn’t be.

Getting up and out of the tent, Atleon enjoyed a stretch in the fresh air before making his way over to the outskirts of the camp where the royal banner was floating on a tree, knowing that he would probably find Ericius there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

While Atleon took care of his matters, Ericius waited patiently, under the tree which he hung the royal banners with pride. Every one in a while he would receive an odd look or two from passing soldiers as, though he was a bit waterlogged, his back was straight and his head was held high, as if he were nobility. He would never presume he was anyways, but he was taught to be proper, and bring honor to his partner. He still wore his saddle as well, as his training explicitly taught him to only take it off when it needed mending; crisis doesn't wait for you to be prepared.

As he waited, pleasant thoughts flitted about his mind, bringing a contented smile to his lips. He had been waiting for this day for quite some time and, even though he was a bit tattered from the long flight, he was overjoyed to finally be of service to the prince. What more could he ask for? But these thoughts were cut short, and wonderfully so, as he saw Atleon finally start making his way toward him. His tail, which had been neatly coiled around him as to keep it out of the way, began swishing slowly in anticipation, and he held himself a little higher, to prove he was just right.

"Hail, my prince." Ericius called to him, his smile still showing. "I trust that your conversations went well, and that you now have no other arrangements which could interrupt our introductions? I would enjoy it immensely if we were to go over your recent activities in detail, so I may be of use to you in them. Oh, what am I saying!" He chuckled softly and shook his head, amused. "I haven't even told you my name yet, have I? I'm terribly sorry. It's Ericius." He bowed his head toward the prince, in respect. "I am pleased to finally meet you."

The dragon was imposing, to say the least. He would not be easy to overlook, especially not with the way he was holding himself in a straight position at all times, and the size in general anyways. A nervous knot was forming in the pit of Atleon’s stomach the closer he got to the dragon. It had been years since he had been close to one that could potentially have any close personal relationship to him and he still felt like he was not ready to close that old wound.

However, the prince pushed such thoughts aside as the hedgehog greeted him with a flood of words and a smile plastered on his face. Atleon returned the smile, though hesitantly, and briefly wondered why this dragon was so very forthcoming. Training was one thing but this…?

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ericius,” Atleon replied, nodding his head in greeting as he planted himself before the dragon in a way where he could still easily look the dragon in the eye without having to crane is neck or the dragon constantly having to level his head to Atleon’s height. “Yes, my meetings are over for now. But before I go into any sort of detail, even if you were sent by the King, I would quite like to know what brings you here.”It wasn’t quite put as a question even though it was one but the prince was too tired to worry over petty details such as that one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

Atleon seemed a bit... stiff. Though that wasn't too much of a shocker, Ericius was well acquainted with the prince's history with dragons. But still, surely he would be a bit more relaxed, these scuffles couldn't really be that bad, could they? Unless, of course, the information he received about their current standing were glossed over, and he actually only had an inkling for what was truly transpiring. But that's utter nonsense, nothing would have been held back from him, who would be working side-by-side with Atleon.

"Ah, yes, I never could get around to telling you." He replied. "What with that avian's constant interruptions." Honestly, the very idea of the audacity that man showed them sent shivers down his spine. Impudent whelp. "I was sent by your father, this is true. For you see, he deems it unfit that you should by unguarded while you are out and, since your late dragon," Here Ericius bowed his head in respect, "passed away, he ruled that you should be accompanied by another. In a word, me." Ericius prostrated himself slightly, head bowing lower. "I am pleased to serve you, and hope I shall be of use in your ventures."

Atleon grew speechless, listening to Ericius’ words. He wasn’t quite sure whether he should wince in pain and go curl up in a corner, away from the world or whether he should be outraged. He felt as though he had been thrown back into his childhood where his father would make decisions for him because he was obviously still too young to really understand what was happening.

But now? Frustration was building up within the prince and the anger at his father’s assumption that he should take charge of Atleon’s life once again was outgrowing his sadness about people interfering with his grief for his dragon. He knew that his father meant well but this was not the way to show it.

“My father has no right to decide whether I should ride a dragon again. Neither is it his right to choose a dragon for me, and then send it to me without my approval. Now, I am not saying that you may not be fit to play the royal escort, but I would appreciate it nonetheless if you could remove yourself from my sight and stop assuming that you are my new dragon. My dragon has died. That’s the end of it.”

Atleon knew that he was probably far too respectless towards Ericius but at this moment in time, he did not care. Dragon riding was a touchy subject for him where he himself was concerned and it was never a good idea to try and patronise him in that respect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

Oh. Well. That was quite a damper on his plans. He knew that Atleon had had a very rough time with his last dragon, however Ericius had thought the prince would be overjoyed. Surely he would be more than happy to take to the skies once again? Ericius sat back on his haunches and grabbed the end of his tail with his two front paws, wringing it nervously, his personality changing sharply.

"O-oh, I see." He said, his voice catching a stutter. There was a plan firmly set in his mind and, he was well aware, when a plan goes wrong then he just goes to pieces. "W-well, I suppose I could go... oh, the king will be furious..." His head tuned every way it could his mind in overdrive trying to figure out what he would do. Oh, this wasn't what was supposed to happen!"

Atleon stared at the suddenly so changed hedgehog dragon, wondering what on earth was going on inside Ericius' mind. He did feel a pang of guilt at seemingly having broken the dragon's high spirits, but he couldn't get past the fact that his father would just assume he would get back on any sort of dragon merely because the King had decided such.

"Look, it's nothing personal against you, Ericius," Atleon tried to soothe the dragon, "and I most certainly wouldn't want you to get into trouble with the King." However, and this he did not add out loud, there was no way he could just up and ride a dragon again just like that. A bond between dragon and rider wasn't formed just by snapping your fingers and deciding it was so.

"You can always stay here and help out, after all, that has been your purpose from the beginning. We'll just leave aside the fact for now that you were supposed to be my dragon. You might have knowledge that we're in need of and we might need someone to fly messages back to the King as well, and seeing that you know your way around rather well..." Atleon drifted off before he could finish the sentence. He didn't want to degrade the dragon to a mere messenger either, it was not fair. But in truth, he did not know what to do with Ericius. Sighing, the prince ran his hand through his hair and merely looked at the dragon, trying to ignore the fact that Ericius' fidgeting was beginning to make him edgy as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

Atleon's reassurances did little to calm Ericius down, despite his apologetic manner. This definitely was not what the poor dragon had been expecting, to say the least. The way he had seen it, and the way he was told it was going to be, Atleon was going to be overjoyed about having another dragon. A partner to fill he void his previous dragon had left him, Ericius would be serving the royal family in the best way he could. And now, he was just.... unwanted. He currently just wanted to hide deep underground, maybe fuse with the bedrock, but the loyal in him made him see the silver lining; He was offered an opportunity to serve him, and being a messenger was better than returning shamed.

With this in mind, Ericius dropped his tail and resumed a more dignified position, though he was notably more rigid than before. "I understand, my prince." He replied, taking a deep breath. "I am glad you would find a position for me to take. I would love to help in any way I can, and I am more than acquainted with our land's geography. I shan't disappoint you." He dipped his head in reverence, and the hole in his pride was filled slightly; He had a role, at least, and that was a start. All he could do was fulfill it to the best of his ability, and hope that Atleon would warm to him from that.

Atleon was at a loss for words or for things to do. It hadn’t been his intention to put down the dragon but neither did he want to be overrun by someone else’s will. He did not get to where he was now by abiding to somebody else’s whims.

“We would be honoured to have you,” he stated as Ericius accepted his offer to help. “I do not want to degrade you to a mere messenger, but for the time being that is the only thing there is to do and it would greatly help us in trying to get together more people for the next battle, which is probably going to come sooner than we’d like.”

Considering his own words for a moment, he looked at the hedgehog dragon with a calculating expression on his face. “How come the king sent you now? I mean now, of all times, to become my dragon? Nobody knew of these invaders, not even the people in the west did until they had them on their doorsteps." Atleon felt a chill crawl up his spine as he considered his own words, wondering what his father was playing at again. The king was prone on using others as his puppets, though he was not an evil or even a bad ruler. He merely preferred things to go the way he intended. "What was his reasoning? His real reasoning?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

Ericius waved off Atleon's apology with a shake of his head. "No, it's quite alright my prince, I understand." He didn't want the prince to feel at all demoralized about this; an important quality n a good leader is a strong sense of what was important, and guilt could only weaken that. And besides, the role of messenger was very important, if a bit unseen. Knowledge is a powerful thing, especially in times of war, and being able to send information quickly is vital for a successful army.

And as for his question... Ericius wasn't sure. Most action from people in high places had hidden connotations, he knew, but if there was on this occasion then he didn't know. "I'm sorry my prince, I wouldn't know." He answered, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "To my knowledge, I was just to be your new partner. I wouldn't doubt that there was another reason, but I'm not the one to ask."

Atleon wasn’t pleased with the answer the hedgehog dragon gave him, but he also understood that Ericius couldn’t tell him what he didn’t know. Nonetheless, it bugged him. He shouldn’t be thrown by this so much but the truth quite simply was that Atleon was starting to be very tired of everybody constantly challenging his decisions or wanting to know better, and everything that came along with it. He needed some rest and some time to think but he was fairly certain that he wasn’t going to get that any time soon.

Atleon sighed inwardly and decided that this was one more thing that he needed to shelve in the back of his mind for later consideration. Easing his posture a little, he regarded the dragon some more. “So tell me, Ericius, how did you come to be trained as a dragon rider’s dragon?”The question did have a few reasons but mainly, Atleon really was interested in knowing how Ericius had ended up in training, especially since he had been selected for a rather specific mission on top of it all. If he couldn’t really give the dragon what he had expected, he could still be caring towards him. And he should as well if he wanted to use him as a royal messenger. Not that he ever wouldn’t be courteous towards a dragon, but sometimes words were easily construed to mean the opposite of what they did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

"Oh, that's a very simple story, my prince." Ericius answered, a smile slowly coming back to his lips. This story always filled him with such joy, as it was one of his proudest moments. "Before I was chosen, I was in training to be a sentinel in Didienne. I was showcasing my abilities to a panel of instructors - I was not aware the king had been watching our class - and before I could be registered as a defender I was taken aside by the king, and offered this position. I readily agreed, of course, even though I knew it would mean another year of training. It would be worth it to work directly under the royal family."

But, maybe they were spending a bit too much time on formalities. Looking at the camp, this group was the kind that could be ready to go at a moment's notice, and it would be best to start moving. "My prince, to get into business," He said, taking a more serious tone. "Is there anything that you need done? It would seem that time is of the essence."

From what the hedgehog dragon said, he must have made quite the impression during his skills presentation for the king to select him. It happened, but it was a rather irregular occurrence and it made Atleon consider Ericius in a slightly different light. Of course, he knew his father would only want the best for him and thus would choose possibly one of the best dragons in the royal guard, but still, Atleon could not and would not let himself be pressured into taking on another dragon when he absolutely did not feel ready for it.

Maybe some time in the future… Though in all honesty, he didn’t really want to consider it, despite the fact that wings would drastically increase his movement speed; a notion that could come in quite handy sooner or later.

“We will have to get everyone organised and on the move as soon as possible. Talos and Armeno have been designated their tasks and the elite dragons are doing as much as they can as well. Would you mind giving them a hand? I will just have to briefly have a few more things to go over before I will rally up the people to move on. I know that time is of the essence, but they needed a few days rest. It was the least I could give them, especially in the light of what is dawning on us. It may well be the last few days of rest we will have in quite a long time.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

It seemed like Atleon and his suite were doing very well, considering the drastic changes that this war is causing. He was taking on his role as a born leader very well, as if proving that the ability to command really was passed on in blood. Not that Ericius was surprised about that, he had confidence in the prince's abilities. What surprised him, rather, was the situation itself; Never in the Cove's history has there been record of invaders from another land. There was quarrels and skirmishes, of course, but never enough to constitute the gathering of an army. Would that even be possible? Did their land even have enough able-bodied warriors?

On getting Atleon's orders Ericius stood, reaching back with his talons and teeth to preen his spines back into position. "It would be my honor, sire. I will do whatever I can. Now, where can I find these dragons?" Craning his neck out to look over the camp, he tried to find them on his own; But though he was great at finding camps in storms, he wasn't too great at picking faces out of a crowd. At least, not yet.

“See that large red rock dragon over there beside the fidgeting lash dragon? Those are two of the Elites. They will know what still needs to be done on their end. Other than that, I think we’re all mostly taken care of apart from the fact that we desperately need supplies. Maybe a few of you can go out hunting deer so that we can prepare a decent meal for the refugees before we’re moving onwards.”

Nodding to the dragon, he turned to go back to his tent, effectively dismissing Ericius but he briefly turned around again to speak to the hedgehog: “Thank you. It isn’t your fault that things haven’t gone to plan. I’m just not ready for a new dragon. It’s got nothing to do with you and we’re more than happy to have your help.”

With that, he really did turn on his heels and walked away. The rest of the chest needed examining and he needed to form a proper plan on which road to take and what to do afterwards. Talos and Armeno would already bring reinforcements, if all went according to plan, but he needed to make arrangements just in case something went wrong with their missions. Atleon needed to be prepared for many different possibilities, and frankly, it scared him a little. After all, he had never himself been in such a situation, even though he had been trained for such an occurrence as this one, but who on Dragons’ Cove had thought this day would ever come to pass?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

"Oh, yes, of course. I should have known. I'll be sure to tell them that they have my complete cooperation, prince Atleon."

As the prince turned away, Ericius felt one last pang of loss from the knowledge that he wouldn't be serving directly under the prince. It wasn't the fact that it was a high rank; He knew that being the prince's dragon would give him plenty of power. What made him upset was that it just wasn't the same as working with the prince face-to-face, knowing what he knew, being in the loop so he could serve a higher purpose. But, he is now at least able to fight for his country in this small way, and he would gladly hunt deer to ensure that the Cove would have peace for many more years.

The hedgehog dragon smiled and nodded to Atleon as he addressed him for what was likely the last time for the day, clearing his thoughts. "Of course, sire, no offense taken. I'm always glad to serve."

And with that, Ericius walked away from the tree where he hung his banners to go and meet with the other dragons, head held proud in service.

Once a very active forum, now more of a sleepy town that we log on to from time to time with the odd post here and there.If you want to talk to us or even join us, please be our guest, though for the foreseeable future it's going to be quiet here! On the other hand, we still adore our lore and will preserve this site as best as we can.

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Dragons' Cove

An island (that is more of a continent) that is completely cut off from the world it is placed in. If the foreigners are anything to go by, it may be the only innately magical part of the world, feeding out to other areas. It has a delicate balance, and its nature changes depending on the actions of its inhabitants.

This makes it either perfectly pleasant or bitterly brutal to live on, depending on your era. Explore its history with caution, but take time to stop and appreciate it as well.